That evening, as violence raged, George Fernandes himself dropped me home in his Ambassador car

Photo journalist recalls the day in 1984, when he told George Fernandes he lived in Mayur Vihar and had no conveyance with me. George told him not to worry saying he would drop him home

Picture Talk/By NK Sareen

I first saw George Fernandes speaking from a stage in Bombay (now Mumbai) as a trade union leader. The second time I met him was with MJ Akbar, the then editor of the Sunday magazine, for some story for that magazine.

This picture was taken at Foreign Correspondents Club of India (FCCI), where he was invited at a function. Though he held three or four different portfolios as Minister in different governments at different times, the last being Defence Minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, I didn’t have any other interaction with him.

During the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, after Indira Gandhi was killed, Chandra Shekhar and George Fernandes organised a peace march from Lajpat Nagar, which ended at Mathura Road near Jung Pura. It was in the evening and dark, and no public or private transport was available that day. George Fernandes noticed me brooding, so he asked me where I lived and if I had any conveyance with me.

I told George Fernandes that I lived in Mayur Vihar and that, no, I had no conveyance with me. Knowing fully well there was no conveyance of any kind available, he told me not to worry saying he would drop me home.

That evening, George Fernandes indeed dropped me home in his Ambassador car.

[In this column, ‘Picture Talk’, veteran photo journalist NK Sareen, a former Photo Editor at Expanse International and a writer, shines light on some of the pictures of personalities he has clicked over the years, with a touch of nostalgia. The views expressed here are the author’s own and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.]